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WHY WILL YE DIE? 



EXPOSTULATION WITH SELF-DESTROYERS. 



REV. WILLIAM J. McCORD, 



PHILADELPHIA : 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 

No. 265 CHESTNUT STREET. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854, 

By a. W. MITCHELL, M.D., 

in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern 
District of Pennsylvania. 



Slote & MooNET, Stereotypers. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

CHAPTER L— Why will ye Die? 7 

CHAPTER IL— Turn and Live 29 

CHAPTER III.— The Sinner's FriexNd 54 



(iii) 



PREFACE. 



Into whose hands shall this book fall ? In 
God's good providencGj reader, it has fallen 
into yours. Will you give it a candid per- 
usal, and see whether it may not contain a 
message for you ? 

You may feel no concern about your soul ; 
then you are in the way to death, and why 
will you die ? In this little book the great 
God, Jehovah, your Maker speaks to you, 
and says. Turn and live ! 

It may be, you are asking what you must 
do to be saved. Here you may get an an- 
swer to that question ; for while Jehovah, ex- 
postulates, and asks, "Why will ye die ? He 
also says, Turn axd live ! And in this 
^ (v) 



VI PREFACE. 

book Jesus Christ is presented to you as the 
Fkiend of sinners. Let me beseech you, 
then, to read, and to ponder well the mes- 
sage which is here brought to you. For it 
is not a vain thing for you ; because it is 
your life. Deut. xxxiv. 47. 

W. J. M. 

Jeffekson, N. Y., Dec. V, 1853. . 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 



For why will ye die, house of Israel ? — Ezek. xviii. 31. 



CHAPTER I. 

WHY WILL YE DIE ? 



Though the Lord be high, yet hath he 
respect unto the lowly. Psa. cxxxviii. 6 : He 
looks to them who are poor and of a contrite 
spirit, and that tremble at his word. Isa.. Ivii. 
15; Ixi. 1 ; Ixvi. 2. He regards his people as 
the apple of his eye. Deut. xxxii. 10; Zech. 
ii. 8. Nor does he disregard those who are 
yet in their sins. He delights not in their 
death ; but grants them space for repentance, 
and gives them many invitations to return to 
him and become reconciled. Ez. xxxiii. 11. 
Nor is this all. He condescends to reason 
with them, that they may be convinced of 

(7) 



8 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

their danger and flee to the refuge provided, 
saying. Come, and let us reason together. 
Isa. i. 18. He deals in kind and tender ex- 
postulations : How shall I give thee up, Eph- 
raim ? how shall I deliver thee, Israel ? 
Hos. xi. 8. And when every argument is 
exhausted, he still follows them with entrea- 
ties, saying. Why will ye die ? Ez. xviii. 31. 

Few passages in the word of God are more 
earnest and tender than this :— ^Repent, and 
turn yourselves from all your transgressions ; 
so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away 
from you all your transgressions, whereby ye 
have transgressed ; and make you a new heart- 
and a new spirit : for why will ye die, 
house of Israel ? For I have no pleasure in 
the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord 
God : wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. 
Ez. xviii. 80-32. 

A question is, here proposed which should 
come home to the heart of every reader. Why 
ivill ye die ? 

Consider the death referred to. What 
death is it ? 

Not temporal death. There could be no 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 9 

propriety in asking this question in regard 
to the death of the body, for all must die. 
It is not left to any one's choice whether he 
will die or not. The decree has gone forth, 
and it is universal, Dust thou art, and unto dust 
shalt thou return. Gen. iii. 19. The rich and 
the poor, the great and the small, the high 
and the low, all, all must die and lie down in 
the grave — all must pass through the struggles 
of death, and yield up their spirits unto God 
who gave them. All must die. Should we 
propose the question to our readers in this 
view — Why will ye die ? they might answer, 
" It is not left optional with us; we are mor- 
tal because we are sinful ; disease and death 
are our lot ; the seeds of decay are sown in 
our systems, and sooner or later we must 
reap the fruit, and return to our native 
earth." It is not temporal death, then, to 
which the question refers. Whether you will 
or not, reader, thi-s death you must die ! 

Nor is it spiritual death. This, too, is 
universal. It is the natural state of man. It 
is the native condition of all men ; for that 
which is born of the flesh is flesh. John iii. 6. 



10 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

And you hath he quickened, saith an apostle, 
who were dead in trespasses and sins, — by 
nature the children of wrath, even as others. 
Eph. ii. 1-3. Spiritual death is sin; it sep- 
arates the soul from God, so that it has no 
communion with him, no spiritual enjoyment, 
no life; it is dead to peace, to happiness, and 
to hope; dead to God and holiness. And as 
all men sinned in Adam and fell with him, 
and hence are born under the curse ; and as 
all men have sinned by their own act too ; so 
all are spiritually dead — dead in sin. If in 
this view we put the question, Why will ye 
die ? the reply might be, — " We are dead 
already! We were born under the curse; 
we have been under it ever since we had an 
existence ; we are under it still — dead in tres- 
passes and sins !" — Yes, reader, you are dead ! 
All your life you have been dead ! And it 
is not in regard to spiritual death that I ask, 
Why wilt thou die ? You are dead already ! 
But another question may be put, Why con- 
tinue in this state ? Why have it perpetuated ? 
Why continue dead^ when there is One who 
can quicken and give life ? This is substanti- 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 11 

ally the question proposed when it is asked, 
Why will ye die ? for if men are not delivered 
from spiritual death, it will end in eternal 
death. 

Eternal death ! This is the death specially 
referred to when it is asked. Why will ye 
die? It is eternal death, called in another 
place, the second death, which is the same as 
being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. 
Eev. XX. 14 ; xxi. 8 ; the wages of sin is 
death : — the same as everlasting punishment, 
for of the wicked Jesus Christ declares, These 
shall go away into everlasting punishment. 
Rom. vi. 23 ; Matt. xxv. 46. It is also writ- 
ten, The soul that sinneth, it shall die ; and 
this death is the same as the penalty of God's 
law, for it is written again, Cursed is every 
one that continueth not in all things which 
are written in the book of 4he law to do 
them. Ez. xviii. 4-20 ; Gal. iii. 10. To 
be cursed of God, is to be miserable for ever, 
for he is the only source of happiness. The 
DExiTH to which the sinner is exposed is just 
the reverse of that life which is the inheri- 
tance of the righteous. Matt. xxv. 46. That 



12 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

life IS ETERNAL ; for the gift of God is eternal 
life, and he that believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life. This death, then, must 
also be eternal; for he that believeth not 
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of 
God ahideth on him — abideth for ever! 
Rom. vi. 23 ; John iii. 36. The abiding wrath 
of God is eternal death ! 

Eternal death ! This death is not anni- 
hilation. There is no such word in the 
Christian vocabulary; there is no such thing 
in the universe of God. Annihilation ! It 
is an idle dream, as vain as it is visionary ! 
The wicked in the future world may wish for 
annihilation, but it can never be. They must 
exist for ever. God who gave them existence 
at the first, can sustain them in existence; 
and he will, that he may manifest the severity 
of his justice for their abuse of his goodness ! 
Reader, you are immortal ; you must live for 
ever, even though you die the second death ! 

Eternal death! This death is not a 
limited punishment beyond the grave. We 
have already seen that it is eternal — everlast- 
ing punishment. Matt. xxv. 46. There is no 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 13 

such thing as a limited punishment hereafter. 
The only punishment of which the Bible 
speaks is without end, described by the Savi- 
our in these awful words. Where their worm 
dieth not, and the fire is 7iot quenched — NOT 
QUENCHED — Then it must burn for ever ! 
Mark ix. 44. 

Eternal death ! It is death to happiness. 
It cuts off all those sources of pleasure which 
this world furnishes, and excludes from 
heaven, from the blessedness for which the 
soul was made, from the enjoyment of God in 
which the angels and the redeemed from 
among men delight, from the blessed inherit- 
ance above. Constituted as is the soul of 
man, the deprivation of happiness is misery ; 
but they who die the second death, have no 
happiness ; to every kind and degree of en- 
joyment they are dead ; how miserable then 
must they be ! Banished from God, the 
source of joy, there remains for them nought 
but an accumulation of sorrow and anguish. 
Eternal death is death to happiness. 

It is also death to hope. In this world 
men are prisoners of hope ; in the next, if 
2 



14 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

they die in their sins, prisoners of despair. 
Zech. ix. 12. While they live they are not 
without hope, that they shall become prepared 
for death ere it arrive. They cherish the ex- 
pectation that they shall be ready, or at least 
so far prepared that they shall escape the 
miseries of the lost, and heaven be their 
eternal dwelling-place. But when once this 
mortal scene is closed, these hopes will all be 
fled. The time of preparation will then be 
gone, and with it all hope of obtaining the 
divine favour. Nor will there be any hope of 
escape from the place of woe. They may 
anxiously desire deliverance ; they may look 
around for a way of escape ; but it is in vain. 
In this world, how miserable soever we may 
be, there still is hope that it may one day be 
better with us. But in that world of sorrow all 
hope expires ! They who die the second death, 
are dead to hope ; there can be no hope of 
mercy — no hope of escape from their suffer- 
ings — no hope that it will ever be better with 
them than it is ! Dead to hope, they are the 
victims of despair ! 

Eternal death is eternal misery. Not only 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 15 

will all hope and happiness be fled — not only 
will conscience reprove and torment — not only 
will there be remorse and despair — not only 
will the lost increase each other's woe and be 
tormented by evil spirits ; — but there will 
also be, as a manifestation of the divine dis- 
pleasure against sin, the direct infliction 
of misery. What that misery will be, it is 
not needful to enquire. It will be propor- 
tioned to their crimes, and greater than w^e 
can now form any conception of. All the 
senses will be avenues of pain, and all the 
powers of the soul will serve to augment the 
wretchedness of the miserable. No tongue 
can tell their anguish ! And after suffering ten 
thousand ages, there will still be an eternity of 
woe to be endured ! After beino; in the asionies 
of death for myriads of centuries, there still is 
eternal dying to torture and agonize the 
soul ! Eternal death is eternal dying — eternal 
anguish — remorse and despair commingled 
with the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty 
God ! Tills is etei^nal death ! 

The death, then, is something fearful and 
awful : it is something which no one can love, 



16 WHYWILLYEDIE? 

no one desire; something which should be 
dreaded and shunned by all. Hence the 
question has force and meaning, Vv'hy will ye 
die? Why persevere in that course which 
must end in eternal death ? Why choose a 
part which must exclude you from heaven and 
consign you to endless despair ? Reader, why 
wilt THOU die ? 

It is not because there is no way of escape 
from this death that men die. There is a 
way of escape ; it is not of necessity, but of 
choice — they will die; they choose death 
rather than life ! 

For provision is made. Jesus Christ took 
our place, and by dying in our stead he 
opened the door of hope to the world. Gal. 
iv. 4-6. He was delivered for our offences, 
and raised again for our justification. Rom. 
iv. 25, He was wounded for our transgres- 
sions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the 
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and 
with his stripes we are healed. The Lord 
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa. 
liii. 4-6. He is the Prince of life ; yet he 
died that he might redeem us from death. 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 17 

In him is life ; and they who believe in him 
shall never die. Acts iii. 14, 15 ; John xi. 
25, 26. Having endured the penalty of the 
law for us — in our room and stead — we, by 
believing in him, may be delivered from that 
penalty and have a title to everlasting life ; 
for he has been made a curse for us, and he is 
the end of the law for righteousness to every 
one that believeth. Rom. v. 6-10 ; viii. 1-4 ; 
X. 4 ; Gal. iiio 13, 24. He is able to save them 
to the uttermost that come unto God by him ; 
and he that cometh shall in no wise be cast 
out. Heb. vii. 25 ; John vi. 87. He is the 
way, the truth and the life ; and all who 
come unto the Father by him shall meet with 
a gracious reception. John xiv. 6, Luke xv. 
11-24. The fountain which he hath opened 
for sin and for uncleanness, can make the 
foulest clean ; for his blood cleanseth from 
all sin. Zech. xiii. 1 ; 1 John i. 7. The 
redemption price is paid ; the marriage sup- 
per is ready. 1 Pet. i. 18-21 ; Matt. xxii. 
1-10. 

And men are invited to partake of the 
provision which is made ; they are invited to 
2* 



18 WHYWILLYEBIE? 

come to Christ that they may have life. 
Many and precious are the invitations given 
in the gospel to perishing men. Come unto 
me, and I will give you rest, says the Divine 
Redeemer. Matt. xi. 28-30. If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 
John vii. 37. Look unto me, and be ye saved. 
Isa. xlv. 22. Nor are invitations all that the 
gospel contains : there are also expostulations 
and entreaties. The sinner is followed with 
warnings and solicitations ; a voice from the 
word is ever sounding in his ears, inviting to 
the cross, and saying, This is the way, walk 
in it and live ; and when he turns from the 
strait and narrow w^ay and presses on in the 
broad way to death, the voice of Jehovah 
comes, in melting tenderness, and earnest en- 
treaty, and anxious expostulation. Why wilt 
thou die ? Why ruin thy soul ? Why destroy 
thyself? Isa. xxx. 21. How often has the 
reader heard that voice ! And to-day you 
hear it again ! God speaks to you in these 
lines, pointing you to the cross, and saying, 
Why wilt thou die ? 

Besides, the Spirit is sent to convince men 



WHTWILLTEDIE? 19 

of their guilt and danger, and lead them to 
accept the mercy offered in the gospel. It is 
his office-work to renew the heart, and to 
convince of sin, and of righteousness, and of 
judgment. John xvi. 7-11. God gives his 
Spirit thus to convince men that they may be 
persuaded to flee from the wrath to come, re- 
turn unto him, and become reconciled through 
Jesus Christ. How often, reader, has God 
by his Spirit spoken to you ! And even now 
are you not conscious of an effort to resist his 
influences and silence the voice of conscience 
and of God, as that voice speaks in the truths 
you read ? self-destroyer, why thus deaf 
to the expostulations of Jehovah ? Why 
refuse to listen when he says to you again, 
as often before, Why zvilt thou die f Sinner, 
why? 

Every thing is ready. The price is paid ; 
all heaven is solicitous for man. God has 
done all that can be asked or reasonably ex- 
pected ; and the reason why men will die is 
not because of any thing on his part which 
renders it necessary. The way of escape is 
open ; his decrees hinder not the salvation of 



20 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

any. Christ has died; the way of life is 
pointed out ; men may enter it, if they will ; 
but they refuse, and the question returns, 
Why will ye die ? 

And the question implies the voluntariness 
of this death* It is not something which 
may not be avoided, but something which 
is chosen. Not that men understandingly 
and deliberately choose eternal death ; but 
they voluntarily walk in that way which leads 
to it, and so indirectly choose the thing it- 
self. — Look at the question ; every word is 
emphatic : — Why will ye die ? Die — perish — 
suffer for ever — a dreadful end — eternal mis- 
ery — who would choose it ? Who would not 
shun it ? Then, why will ye die ? Reader, 
it is a matter in which you are interested — 
Jehovah is expostulating with you — you 
are among the self-destroyers — among those 
who are on the way to perdition — going 
down to undying death ! 

" In that lone land of deep despair, 

No Sabbath's heavenly light shall rise; 
No God regard your bitter prayer, 
Nor Saviour call you to the skies V 



WHYWILLYEDIE? 21 

And, reader, are you hastening to that 
miserable abode ? Why, why will ye die ? 
why destroy yourself ? Provision is made for 
your deliverance ; life eternal has been pur- 
chased with the precious blood of Christ ; it 
is offered to you freely; it is urged upon 
you — without money and without price, Isa. 
Iv. 1-3; then, why will ye die? What 
is the reason ? Why choose death when both 
life and death are placed before you ? 

Why ? Because you love your sins : you 
are attached to your ways of transgression. 
You love to gratify the evil propensities of 
your nature ; you love to indulge the native 
promptings of your heart. Sin for its own 
Bake you may not love ; but for the sake of 
the gratification they afford you, you love your 
sins, you delight in them ; and therefore you 

WILL DIE ! 

And you hate holiness ! Your hatred of 
holiness is just- as strong as your love of sin. 
You do not like to deny yourself, and prac- 
tise that purity of heart and life which the 
Bible enjoins. God is holy ; and they who 
would hope for heaven must be holy, but this 



22 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

is contrary to your nature, which is corrupt. 
Heb. xii. 14; 1 Cor. ii. 14; Gal. v. 17-21. 
The carnal mind is enmity against God ; it 
loves not his character, it loves not his law, 
nor his gospel ; it is opposed to his require- 
ments — it is not subject to the law of God, 
neither indeed can be. Rom. viii. 5-8. You 
have a carnal mind — an unrenewed heart — 
you hate holiness ; and therefore you will 
DIE ! 

And you dislike the plan of salvation ! It 
is too humbling. It makes not sufficient ac- 
count of human merit. It dispenses too en- 
tirely with works. It requires only faith. 
Rom. iii. 9-31. You want to purchase heaven 
with your good deeds. You want to pay your 
way through to the celestial city. You want 
to be indebted to no one but yourself for sal- 
vation. To renounce self and trust solely in 
Christ for eternal life is what you cannot en- 
dure ; you cannot consent to .receive heaven 
as a gift ; you dislike the plan of salvation, 
and therefore you will die ! 

And you have no inclination to choose life ! 
The choice must be made, freely made, or you 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 23 

cannot be saved. But how can you make that 
choice, when you love sin, hate holiness, and 
dislike the plan of salvation? Especially, 
how can you make the choice, w^hen you have 
no inclination to do so, and while a corrupt 
heart enslaves your will ? The want of incli- 
nation is no excuse ; it affords no apology ; 
it is sin ; it increases guilt ; it exposes to the 
wrath of God ; yet you are disinclined to the 
duty and altogether averse from it. Life 
itself you would like ; the impending death 
you would shun ; but when the way of life is 
made known, and you are taught that it lies 
by the cross of Christ, you shrink from it ; 
you have no inclination to choose it, and 
therefore you will die ! 

And yet Grod the Father asks you why ? 
Your Maker feels for you; he delights not 
in your death ; he desires that you may live ; 
he expostulates with you, and asks. Why wilt 
thou die ? 

And God the Son asks you why ? He 
bled for you ; he agonized in the garden for 
you ; on the cross he hung, and there he died 
for you ! He feels a deep interest in your 



24 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

welfare ; he could weep for you as lie did 
over Jerusalem, Luke xiii. 34, 35, and xix. 
41. He points you to the cross and to the 
crown, to heaven and to hell, and asks, Why 
wilt thou die ? 

And God the Spirit asks you why ? If he 
felt no interest in your welfare, he would not 
strive with your heart and labour to bring 
you to embrace the hope of salvation. He 
manifests his interest in setting your sins in 
order before you, and in accompanying the 
truth to your heart. Even now he is moving 
upon your soul. He would draw you to 
Christ ; he would lead you to the skies ; and 
the language of all his impressions and of all 
his strivings is. Why wilt thou die ? 

This is also the language of God's provi- 
dence ! Every passing event has a voice 
which speaks, warning of danger, and admon- 
ishing to be ready for the coming of the Son 
of man. How many warnings of this kind 
have you had ! And how many of them have 
been unheeded ! Still God teaches and ex- 
postulates by his providence, and its lan- 
guage is, Why wilt thou die ? 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 25 

This is also the language of conscience ! 
How often does conscience reprove and ad- 
monish ! Amid the cares and bustle of life 
its voice may be unheard and unheeded ; but 
in the hour of solitude and of sorrow, it will 
speak out, and it will be heard ! No one is 
a stranger to its voice. Reader, you have 
heard it often, sometimes gently whispering, 
and then again loudly reproving, or earnestly 
expostulating. Yes, and conscience speaks 
now ; it seconds the word of truth which you 
read; it condemns for neglected duty; it 
urges obedience to the calls of God ; it gives 
forebodings of coming wrath; directs the 
mind to the retributions of eternity ; turns 
the attention to the death that never dies ; 
points to the undying worm and the quench- 
less fire ; and asks, in thunder tones. Why 

WILT THOU DIE ? 

There is no tiniversalism in the Bible ! 
Were universalism true, what sense in the 
question, Why will ye die ? What meaning 
could be attached to it ? It is utterly des- 
titute of force and of sense. But it is not 

without meaning. It means much. It speaks 
3 



26 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

of a death which may be shunned, and that is 
not temporal death, nor spiritual death, but 
eternal death. This is the language of the 
Bible : and it cuts off the hope of those who 
flatter themselves that they shall not die^ live 
as they may. Their dreams of safety and 
impunity are vain ; their foot shall slide in 
due time ! Deut. xxxii. 35. Let no one 
build upon this foundation, for it is to build 
upon the sand and secure a certain and fatal 
overthrow. Reader, heaven and hell are re- 
alties ; and if you do not turn from your evil 
ways, you shall die ! 

Te must be born again, said Jesus to Nico- 
demus. John iii. 1-8. In this expostula- 
tion of Jehovah with the self-destroyers, we 
see the necessity of regeneration to liberate 
the will, set it free from the bondage of cor- 
ruption, and incline it to the choice of life. 
Beware, then, how you resist the Spirit of 
grace! He will not always strive. Grieve 
him away, and your are lost ! 

How bitter the reflections of the lost in 
the world of woe ! They perish, not because 
abundant provision has not been made for the 



WHY WILL YE DIE? 27 

pardon of sin ; nor because salvation is not 
offered them ; nor because the Spirit does not 
strive with their hearts ; but because they will 
not come to Christ, that they might have life. 
John V. 40. They die^ not because life is 
beyond their reach, but because they will die ! 
This they must know ; this they must feel ; 
and upon this they must reflect for ever ! And 
when they look back on the past ; when they 
recall the scenes through which they pressed 
down to death, their reflections must be 
bitter indeed. And these bitter reflections, 
attended as they must be by the reproaches 
of conscience, will form an important part of 
that misery to which they are doomed through 
eternal ages. Reader, do you covet that 
misery ? Shall those hitter reflections be 
yours ? 

Reader, let the question come home to your 
heart, Why wilt thou die ? If but the body 
were diseased and in danger of death, would 
you not apply to some skilful hand for relief ? 
But what is the body to the soul ? The soul 
is in danger of death ; yea, the whole man is 
in danger of eternal dying; a kind Phy- 



28 WHY WILL YE DIE? 

sician is near ; he can heal ; he can give 
life ; he can save from death ; and will you 
not apply to him ? He waits for your call ; 
nay he calls you to him ; he is ready to re- 
lieve — waiting to be gracious — will you not 
go to him ? Pause and think ! Your end is 
near ; eternal death is before you ; listen to 
the expostulations of Jehovah ! The Father 
calls ; the Saviour invites ; the Spirit strives ; 
turn and live, for why wilt thou die ? 

" Turn to Christ your longing eyes, 
Yiew his bleeding sacrifice, 
See in him your sins forgiven, 
Pardon, holiness, and heaven ; 
Glorify the King of Kings, 
Take the peace the gospel brings/' 



CHAPTER II, 



TURN AND LIVE. 



Wherefore turn yourselves^ and live ye. — Ezek. xviii. 82. 

God is holy. He hates sin, and has de- 
clared his purpose to punish it. The immuta- 
bility of his nature secures the execution of 
this purpose. What he has purposed, and 
what he has said, that he will do. The 
wicked must feel his wrath ; they must ex- 
perience the awful inflictions of his justice. 
But does God delight in the sufferings of 
the guilty ? Does he inflict misery because 
he delights in it ? Is the punishment of the 
wicked the sportings of the Infinite with the 
anguish of his creatures, like the sorrows 
caused by the madman who casteth fire- 
brands, arrows and death, and saith, Am not 
I in sport ? Prov. xxvi. 18-19. 

3^ (29) 



30 TUKN AND LIVE. 

No, indeed ; the wrath of God is not a mal- 
evolent principle which rejoices in the misery 
it inflicts ; it is the repugnance of his nature 
to that which is wrong, and the punishment 
of the wicked is but the expression of this 
repugnance. Sin deserves punishment, and 
as God is holy andjust^ he must punish sinners. 
He has in view his own glory, the evil of sin, 
and the good of the universe, when he pun- 
ishes. It affords him no gratification to see 
any unhappy ; and much less does it afford 
him any gratification to consign his creatures 
to everlasting misery, and doom them to 
eternal death. On the contrary, his language 
is — and it coincides with the benevolent feel- 
ings of his heart — Oast away from you all 
your transgressions, whereby ye have trans- 
gressed ; and make you a new heart and a 
new spirit : for why will ye die, house of 
Israel ? For I have no pleasure in the death 
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God : 
wherefore turn yourselves^ and live ye, Ezek. 
xviii. 31-32. 

God here exhorts, commands, entreats men 
to turn and live ; and the reason given is that 



TURNANDLIVE. 31 

he has no pleasu7*e in their death. This 
reason should be all-prevalent with us ; for 
we should ever do what is well-pleasing in his 
sight. Our death can give him no pleasure ; 
our life will redound to his glory and praise. 
Let us listen to his voice, for it is he who 
says, Wherefore turn yourselves and live ye! 
This implies that men are in the way of 
death. On this is based the necessity of their 
turning in order to live. Why exhort men to 
turn and live, if their present course, perse- 
vered in, will not end in death and destruc- 
tion ? Such is the fact. They have only 
just to go on in the way they are, 

" To reap immortal woe.'' 

All men by nature, and while unrenewed, are 
in the way to ruin. This way is broad, be- 
cause it embraces, in their unregenerate state, 
the whole family of man ; but the way to 
heaven is narrow, because it embraces only 
those who are new creatures in Cjhrist Jesus. 
Matt. vii. 13, 14; 2 Cor. v. 17. The gate 
at the head of the broad way is wide, for all 
men enter it by their natural birth ; but the . 



82 TURNANDLIVE. 

gate at the entrance of the narrow way is 
strait, for only they enter therein who are 
born of the Spirit. The broad way requires 
no self-denial ; it permits those who walk 
therein to gratify the corrupt propensities 
of their natures ; it imposes no restraints ; 
it tasks with no arduous duties. No wonder 
that men love this way, nor that it seems right 
unto them ; for it coincides with the natural 
bent of their hearts — it lies in a parallel 
direction with all their inclinations. Yet 
still the e7id of this way is death ; and indeed 
the way itself is death, for they who walk 
therein are dead in trespasses and sins. They 
are sinners, by nature and by practice vile ; 
they are the servants of sin ; they are under 
its dominion and its curse ; it reigns over 
them with tyrant power. And the wages 
which they shall receive is death. This is the 
end of their course ; this is the reward 
which they shall have for all their labours 
— eternal death! Why will ye die? Prov. 
xiv. 12 ; Eph. ii. 1-3 ; Rom. vi. 16-23 ; Ez. 
^viii. 31. 

That men are in the way to death, may be 



TURNANDLIVE. 33 

evinced with still greater distinctness by glan- 
cing at three important considerations : — 

1. That men are sinners. This needs no 
proof. All acknowledge it. Rom. i. 18-32 ; 
iii. 9-20. And as sin separates from God, 
so the natui^al consequence of sin is an eter- 
nal separation from him ; and this is also the 
just^ and the decreed^ result. Now as God is 
the fountain of happiness, and all our springs 
of enjoyment must issue from this fountain; 
so if sin be unforgiven, eternal misery is in- 
evitable. Eternal misery is the natural, neces- 
sary, and unavoidable consequence of unre- 
pented and unforgiven sin. As sinners, then, 
men are in the way to death. Their sins, 
unforgiven, will kill them beyond the tomb ; 
and they will find that,^ 

** ^Tis not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die V^ 

Sin bringeth forth death. Jas. i. 15. Its 
native and bitter fruit is eternal death. 

2. Men have conscience. God has not 
left himself without witness in the human 
breast. This witness, though partaking of 



34 TURNANDLIVE. 

the general corruption of our natures, yet 
preserves some little degree of faithfulness. 
Even in this world it does not fail to reprove, 
condemn, and censure for that which conflicts 
with its views of propriety. And in the future 
world, where it will be perfectly enlightened ; 
where it will have clear views of right and 
wrong, according to the principles of eternal 
rectitude ; where it can be under no induce- 
ment to decide erroneously, and where it will 
pass sentence upon every misdeed of time, 
and for every abused mercy and neglected 
privilege ; its condemnations and reproaches 
must agonize the bosoms of the guilty and the 
lost. ,Now conscience will always exist; it 
is inseparable from ourselves — it is the mind 
itself passing sentence upon itself; — and as it 
reproves for transgression, it will ever render 
the sinner unhappy. It is the undying worm 
that shall for ever gnaw his heart. Mark ix. 
44. A guilty conscience is " a bosom fury " 
to the lost sinner — ''a living scorpion to his 
deathless soul." As long as he has a con- 
science he must be miserable ; and that will 



TUKNANDLIVE. 35 

be for ever ! So that, inevitably, he is in 
the way to endless despair ! 

3. God is not an indifferent spectator 
of human conduct. He takes notice of all 
that transpires ; and he is angry with the 
wicked every day. Ps. vii. 11 ; ix. 17. So 
long as they are wicked, so long will he be 
angry with them ; and that will be for ever^ 
if they repent not and remain unforgiven. 
And, 

" There are no acts of pardon past 
In the cold grave to which v^e haste ; 
But darkness, death, and long despair 
Reign in eternal silence there/^ 

They who die in sin, are sinners for ever ; 
they who die unforgiven, are unforgiven for 
ever; and God will punish, them for ever. 
For he is Ao?y, just^ and true. He is holy, 
and hates sin ; just, and will punish it ; true, 
and will perform what he has threatened. 
Sin is abhorrent to his nature. He abomi- 
nates it. Jer. xliv. 4. His hatred of sin he 
must and will express in the punishment of 
the impenitent and unbelieving. He will ex- 



36 TURN AND LIVE. 

press, (in their punishment,) his abhorrence 
of their sins, and execute upon them the 
threatenings of his word. He hath said, The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ez. xviii. 20. 
As he changes not, he will ever be holy, just, 
and true ; sin will ever be his abhorrence ; 
and so because of God's very nature, the sin- 
ner's course must end in death. As sure as 
God is unchangeable, death is the end of his 
way. While God remains holy, just, and 
true, the sinner must feel his wrath and be 
miserable, — and that will be for ever ! He 
is in the way to death ! Let him listen, then, 
to the voice of Jehovah when he says, As I 
live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked; but that the 
wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, 
turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye 
die, house of Israel? Wherefore turn 
yourselves and live ye. Ez. xxxiii. 11 ; xviii. 
81, 82. 

This suggests an alternative which demands 
not only thought, but action, instant action 
■ — viz. Men must either turn or die ! 

This follows from what precedes. If men 



TURN AND LIVE\ 87 

are in the way to death, as has been shown, 
then they must turn, or they must die. If 
they would not be swallowed up in the second 
death, it will not do for them to proceed 
in their present path. The farther they go, 
the greater their peril. Every succeeding 
step brings them nearer the awful end of the 
finally impenitent. The only way to shun 
that end is by turning unto the Lord. It is 
only by turning that they can hope to live. 
If they refuse, or neglect, to turn, they can 
but die. There is no remedy. Reader, if 
you do not turn, you must die ! Wherefore 
turn and live ! 

This turning is not synonymous with re- 
generation. Regeneration, properly so called, 
is the work of God's Spirit. It is not our act; 
it is not a mere change of purpose ; it is not 
a resolution to do right ; it is not a change 
from one course of conduct to another. It is 
a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit; 
and it precedes all right acts and exercises. 
Purposes, resolutions, reformations, so far as 
they are right, and all that is right in the 
4 



88 TURN AND LIVE, 

sight of God, are effects of regeneration, and 
not regeneration itself. 

Regeneration according to the third chap- 
ter of John's gospel, is, being horn of the 
Spirit ; and surely that is not our act : it is 
the Spirit's work. John iii. 1-8. He 
takes away the heart of stone, and gives a 
heart of flesh ; renews the will, and by his 
almighty power determines it to that which is 
good; and effectually draws the soul to Jesus 
Christ. Con. Faith, ch. 10, sec, 1. And so 
the answer to the thirty-first question of the 
Shorter Catechism, — '^ Effectual calling is the 
work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us 
of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds 
in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our 
wills, he doth persuade and enable us to em- 
brace .Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the 
gospel." It is the Spirit that quickens dead 
sinners. Eph. ii. 1. The power displayed 
in regeneration is like that by which Christ 
was raised from the dead. Eph. i. 18-21. It 
renews the heart, subdues the will, and sets 
it free from the bondage of corruption, changes 
the bent of the soul, and inclines the sinner 



TURNANDLIVE. 39 

to forsake his sins and turn unto the Lord, 
and embrace Christ by faith, which he never 
would do without, and which, when thus re- 
newed, he does freely and cheerfully. His 
turning is his own act, an effect — a fruit and 
an evidence — of his regeneration, begun as 
soon as he is born again, and so it cannot be 
separated from his new birth, though it is 
distinct from it. As soon as he is born again, 
he begins to live a new life, and this is seen 
in his turning from his sins unto God. Where- 
fore turn and live ! 

Men are dependent upon the Spirit of God 
for every good thing, for they cannot of 
themselves even think a good thought. Still, 
they have duties to perform, and as free moral 
agents they are to be urged to perform them ; 
and every necessary provision is made for 
their weakness, helplessness, and dependence. 
No duty is enjoined but there is also grace 
promised for its performance ; and to enforce 
the duty is but to present the privilege of 
seeking that grace* No plea of inability, 
therefore, can avail. Men must do their 
duty J or they must die ! It is heaven's de- 



40 TURNANDLIVE. 

cree ; and it is irrevocable. The duty here 
enjoined is turning to the Lord ; and it must 
he done, or the sinner must perish ! Where- 
fore turn and live ! 

Look at this alternative — turn or die :- — 
It is a perfect alternative. It presents two 
opposite courses of conduct, with their results ; 
and you cannot think of a third. It is, turn 
or die ; and one of the two must be done. 
There is no escape. If you turn, you shall 
not die, but live ; if you turn not, die you 
must. Can you think of a middle course? 
Can you think of a middle destiny — a state 
which is neither life nor death ? Here, then, 
is the alternative. Bring it right before 
you ; look it full in the face ; and decide now, 
in the presence and fear of Grod, whether you 
will TURN or DIE ! 

For this alternative is urgent. You are 
now in the way to death. If cut off now, 
you are lost ! And you know not how soon 
you may be summoned away. Time is flying 
along, and you are hastening to the judg- 
ment. In a little while your probation will 
be closed. Your life is " frail, short, and 



TURNANDLIVE. 41 

uncertain." In a moment the brittle thread 
may be severed, and then you are gone — 
whither ? By all the uncertainty which hangs 
over the future, are you urged to turn lest 
you die ! On a single point your eternity is 
suspended. That point may be now ! Now^ 
therefore, should you turn ; now flee from 
impending ruin and eternal wrath. Another 
moment it may be too late ! Another call 
you may never have ! Now is the accepted 
time; now the day of salvation. 2 Cor. vi. 
2. Wherefore turn and live ! 

And let it be borne in mind that this alter- 
native is reasonable. "What is it that it 
requires ? Just the forsaking of your sins, 
and turning from them unto the service of 
God ; just ceasing to do evil, and learning to 
do well. Isa. i. 16-18. And is it a great 
thing that God should require you to break 
off your iniquities ? A great thing that he 
should demand your return to him from whom 
you have wandered ? He has a right to you 
and to your services. He made you ; he 
preserves you ; he redeemed you — gave his 
Son to die for your sins — and what more 
4^ 



42 turnandlive/^ 

reasonable than that you should renounce 
your sins, put your trust in Jesus Christ, and 
live to his glory ? Wherefore turn and live ! 

What God requires of you is reasonable. 
He cannot require less ; and he will not ! 
Never will he lower his demands ; never modify 
the terms of his gospel. He has shown his love 
in the gift of his Son ; he shows it daily in the 
gift of his Spirit, and the invitations and en- 
treaties of his word — in his earnest expostula- 
tions. He has no pleasure in your death; 
and what he requires, that you may not die, 
is that you turn unto him — look to Jesus 
Christ and be saved. Tour present course 
leads to certain death — death ete|*nal; the 
only way you can avoid it is by turning 
from your evil ways and embracing Jesus 
Christ by faith. 

On the other hand, if men will not turn, 
it is but reasonable that they should diej 
reasonable that they should reap the natural — 
the just and necessary — fruits of their own 
doings. Prov. i. 28-31; Gal. vi. 7, 8. 
The^ gospel-feast is spread, and the invitation 
given. Life and death are set before them. 



TURN AND LIVE. 43 

Deut. XXX. 19. They are warned of their 
danger ; they are instructed in the way of 
salvation ; their duty is made plain ; they are 
entreated to turn and live ; and if they will 
not turn, why should they not die ? Jehovah 
expostulates with them, saying, Why will ye 
die ? and whom can they blame, if they 
perish, but themselves? self-destroyed, they 
must be self-condemned, and ever feel that 
their punishment is reasonable and right. 
Let this thought come home to yourself, 
reader : if you perish, there will be reason 
and justice in your punishment. Wherefore 
turn and live ! 

Such is the alternative, perfect, urgent, 
reasonable. But who will heed it? How 
often, reader, has it, in different forms, been 
presented to you! The Bible "every where 
presents and enforces this alternative. It 
teaches that the only way to shun eternal 
death is turning from our evil ways. It 
places life and death before us, and exhorts 
us to choose life that we may live. Deut. 
XXX. 19, 20. He exhorts us to choose be- 
tween the service of the true God and of 



44 TURNANDLIVE. 

idols — between God and the world — repent- 
ance and perdition — faith and damnation — 
heaven and hell. It assures us that they who 
have the Son of God have life, and they that 
have not the Son of God have not life ; and 
it also declares that they who believe shall 
have everlasting life ; and they that believe 
not shall be damned ; and that they who 
repent not shall perish. Josh. xxiv. 14, 15; 
Kings xviii. 21 ; Matt. vi. 24 ; Luke xiii. 3 ; 
Mark xvi. 16 ; 1 John v. 12 ; John iii. 36. 
These are the teachings of the word of God. 
Wherefore turn and live. 

You are familiar with these truths. You 
are not unacquainted with the alternative, 
turn or die. And yet you turn not ; you 
flee not from the way of death ; you enter 
not into the path of life. Death is before you 
and yet you press on in your chosen way ; 
death is before you, and yet you turn not. 
Turn or die, is written on every thing you 
see, and yet you turn not. Why this in- 
difference? Are there no inducements to 
turn to the Lord ? One would think that the 
death to which sinners are exposed would 



TURNANDLIVE. 45 

constrain them to turn from their evil ways 
and flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope 
set before them. Heb. vi. 18. There is 
something terrific in the death that never dies ; 
and the very obscurity which hangs around 
it, renders it the more fearful ; and yet men 
can sport upon its brink, and seem to feel no 
alarm. When urged to flee, they listen not; 
they stop their ears to the calls of mercy; 
they regard not when God speaks ; and they 
scarcely pause to think when he points them 
to the dreadful end of their course, and asks, 
Why will ye die ? 

The second death has no power to induce 
men to turn from their evil ways. The love 
of sin is stronger than the fear of death. Is 
there, then, no other motive which can be 
brought to operate on their minds ? Yes, 
another is presented in this expostulation of 
Jehovah, — it is life ; wherefore turn your- 
selves, and LIVE ye ! 

Let us now take this view of the subject, — 
Turn and live ! Vf e have considered the 
alternative, turn or die. Let us now view it 
in this aspect, as an inducement to turn unto 



46 TURNANfDLIVE. 

the Lord, turn and live. The alternative, 
turn or die, shows what must be suflFered, if 
men do not turn ; this shows what they shall 
enjoy, if they do turn, they shall live ; 
wherefore turn and live. 

But what is this life ? It is not natural 
life. Repentance of sin and faith in Christ 
do not ensure freedom from death. All must 
die. The righteous do not live always here 
on earth. Though piety may have a tendency 
to lengthen out our days, yet the best men 
do not always live the longest. The re- 
verse of this is often true. Hence the life 
here promised is not only nor chiefly natural 
or temporal life. It is not the life of the 
body in this world. It is something far 
nobler and better than this. Wherefore turn 
and live ! 

Nor does it mean the comforts and plea- 
sures, the blessings and enjoyments of life. 
Religion does not always bring these with it. 
The righteous are often poor and afflicted,^ 
while the wicked live at ease and are blessed 
with an abundance of the good things of this 
world. Religion, however, sweetens the com- 



TURNANDLIVE. 47 

forts and supports under the ills of life ; and 
in this respect godliness has the promise of 
the life that now is, as well as of that which 
is to come. 1 Tim. iv. 8. Still, earthly 
things are not the life here promised. It 
looks beyond the enjoyments of this world. 
It takes hold upon eternity. Heavenly in its 
origin, it tends to heaven again. 

It is spiritual life. When one turns unto 
God, he begins to live. He is quickened, made 
alive, and he begins a new existence. Eph. 
ii. 1-3. Dead before, he now hears the voice 
of the Son of God, and lives. John v. 25. 
He is born again ; old things are passed 
away ; behold, all things are become new ; 
he is a new man, a new creature. John iii. 
1-8 ; 2 Cor. v. 17. A principle of new life 
is implanted in his heart, and he begins to 
live anew. Hitherto he has been dead, now 
he is alive— just born into the kingdom, a 
new man in a new world ! He is united to 
Christ by faith, and he lives by the faith of 
the Son of God. Gal. ii. 20. Faith is the 
new principle of the new life. Being justified 
by faith he has peace with God. Rom. v. 1. 



48 TURNANDLIVE. 

He is reconciled and at peace with his Maker. 
He has communion and fellowship with him ; 
he enjoys his presence, rejoices in his smiles^ 
and feels that his favour is life. Ps. xxx. 5. 
His pleasures now are of a spiritual nature ; 
and he seeks his happiness in the service and 
enjoyment of God. This life is the fruit of 
God's quickening Spirit ; it is derived from 
God, and it tends to God. From him is its 
origin ; from him comes its aliment, its sup- 
port and nourishment. It is life to God and 
life to holiness ; it is life to Christ and to 
the Holy Spirit ; it is life to happiness and 
life to hope. It imparts peace and joy here ; 
and it holds up the prospect of eternal rest 
hereafter, for it gives a title to mansions in 
the skies ; it is connected with the bliss of 
heaven, for where it exists, it shall never 
die, but be swallowed up in the full fruition 
of eternal glory. He that believeth hath 
everlasting life. John iii. 36. Turn and 
live ! 

Hence this life leads to and ends in eternal 
life. This is the life chiefly intended, as 
eternal death is the death intended when it is 



TURNANDLIVE. 49^ 

asked, Why will ye die ? Eternal life is more 
than endless existence ; it is an endless blessed 
and happy existence ; it is eternal happiness 
— happiness in the presence of God, pure, 
perfect, and ever increasing ! It is heaven ! 
This one word includes it all. It is vain to 
attempt a description of the happiness of 
heaven ; for the mind of man can form no 
adequate conception of it, until it is reached 
and tasted by happy experience. We can no 
more describe the happiness of heaven than 
we can heaven itself. It is enough to know 
that it is what God, who is infinite in re- 
sources, as well as in wisdom, love, and good- 
ness, has provided for them that love him ; 
enough to know that it is all that man or an- 
gel can desire, and that it is to continue, 
not only for a few days or years, but for ever ! 
Eternal life is to be for ever with the Lord ! 
Man was made to glorify God, and to be 
happy in the enjoyment of him ; and the 
happiness of heaven is that for which man 
was made ; it meets the cravings of the im- 
mortal mind — it fills the soul — and fills it for 
ever ! Heaven was made for man, and maa 
5 



60 TURNANDLIVE. 

for heaven ! Eternal life is his birthright. 
He has forfeited it by sin ; but renewed by 
the Holy Ghost, and made spiritually alive, 
he is fitted for eternal life, and that shall 
be his portion. They who are made spir- 
itually alive here, shall have eternal life 
in heaven. He who gives grace will also give 
glory. Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. Wherefore turn and 
live ! 

Eternal life is the perpetuation of spiritual 
life. In this sense they who live shall never 
die. John xi. 25, 26. Eternal life ! Such 
is the life promised — the converse of the 
death threatened. It is eternal life — eternal 
blessedness in heaven ! Look at it ; think of 
it ; and is it no inducement to turn from your 
evil ways ? Is sin, with death as its comple- 
tion, more attractive than holiness, with 
heaven as its reward? If the fear of death 
drive you not from the way of transgressors, 
shall not the love of life — the desire of eter- 
nal happiness — allure you from that way ? 
Will you not listen to the voice of God when 
he says. Turn and live ? He delights not 
in your death. He has given his Son to 



TURNANBLIVE. 51 

deem you ; he has sent his Spirit to re- 
new and sanctify you ; he has pleaded long 
with you by his word, his servants, his pro- 
vidence, his Spirit ; he has used warnings, 
threatenings, invitations, expostulations, en- 
treaties; and when every argument fails, 
and you seem determined on destruction, he 
cries after you, Why wilt thou die ? Turn 
and live ! 

Now shall the motive which God here pre- 
sents to your mind induce you to turn ? It 
is life — spiritual life here — eternal life here- 
after. Eternal life ! In view of it, will you 
turn from your evil ways unto the Lord ? 
Will you embrace Jesus Christ by faith ? 
Eeader, will you turn and live ? If not, 
we come back to the alternative, you must 
tur7i or die ! 

My aged reader, I ask you, why not turn 
and live ? Your dying hour is near ; soon 
it will be too late to turn; it is now full late; 
why not now turn and live ? 

Middle aged reader, I ask you, why not turn 
and live ? Ton have gone far enough in the 
way of death ; God now invites you to return ; 



52 TURNANDLIVE. 

he presses upon you the invitation ; and why 
not turn and live ? 

Youthful reader, why will not you turn and 
live ? Are you in love with death ? You 
must turn or die ; the work will never be 
easier ; the difficulties will never be less • 
your duty never plainer ; the calls of God 
never more clear ; then why not turn and 
live ? 

" Sinners, turn, why will ye die ? 
God your Maker asks you why, 
God who did your being give, 
Made you with himself to live, 
He the fatal cause demands, 
Asks the work of his own hands ; 
Why, ye thankless creatures, why, 
Will ye cross his love and die ? 

" Sinners, turn, why will ye die ? 
God your Saviour asks you why ; 
He who did your soul retrieve, 
Died himself that you might live, 
Will ye let him die in vain, 
Crucify your Lord again ? 
Why, ye rebel sinners, why 
Will ye slight his grace and die ? 



TURNANDLIVE.. 53 

** Sinners, turn wliy will ye die ? 
God the Spirit asks you why ; 
Many a time with you he strove, 
"Wooed you to embrace his love ; 
Will ye not his grace receive ? 
Will ye still refuse to live ? 
Why will ye for ever die, 
ye guilty sinners, why V^ 



CHAPTER III. 

THE sinner's friend. 
A friend of publicans and sinners. — Matt. xi. 19. 

The Jews of our Saviour's time were so 
far departed from God that they seemed dis- 
posed not to be pleased with any thing which 
he had done, or should do, for their salva- 
tion. He had done much for them and their 
fathers ; but they were always a rebellious 
house. Thus in the time of Jeremiah the 
Lord said, This thing commanded I them, 
saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your 
God, and ye shall be my people : and walk 
ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, 
that it may be well unto you. But they 
hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but 
walked in the counsels and in the imagination 
of their evil heart, and went backward, and 
(54) 



THE sinnee's friend. 55 

not forward. Since the clay that your fathers 
came forth out of the land of Egypt unto 
this day, I have even sent unto you all my 
servants the prophets, daily rising up early 
and sending them : yet they hearkened not 
unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened 
their neck : they did worse than their fathers. 
Jer. vii. 23-26. They would not hear the 
servants of God, and when he sent his Son, 
they would not receive him. He was in the 
world, and the world was made by him, and 
the world knew him not. He came unto his 
own, and his own received him not. John i. 
10, 11. This conduct of the Jews in reject- 
ing the servants and the Son of Grod, is illus- 
trated by the Saviour in one of his instruc- 
tive parables : 

There was a certain householder, which 
planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, 
and digged a wine-press in it, and built a tower, 
anti let it out to husbandmen, and went into a 
far country : and when the time of the fruit 
drew near, he sent his servants to the husband- 
men, that they might receive the fruits of it. 
And the husbandmen took his servants, and 



56 THE sinner's friend. 

beat one, and killed another, and stoned an- 
other. Again he sent other servants more than 
the first : and they did unto them likewise. But 
last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, 
They will reverence my son. But when the 
husbandmien saw the son, they said among 
themselves. This is the heir ; come, let us 
kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 
And they caught him, and cast him out of the . 
vineyard, and slew him. When the Lord 
therefore of the vineyard cometh what will 
he do unto those husbandmen? They say 
unto him, — and in so saying pass sentence 
upon themselves, — He will miserably destroy 
those wicked men, and will let out his vine- 
yard unto other husbandmen, which shall 
render him the fruits in their season. To 
show them that they had pronounced their 
own doom, Jesus saith unto them, Did ye 
never read in the Scriptures, The stone 
which the builders rejected, the same is be- 
come the head of the corner: this is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our 
eyes ? Therefore I say unto you, The king- 
dom of God shall be taken from you, and 



THE sinner's friend 57 

given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this 
stone, shall be broken : but on whomsoever 
it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 
Matt. xxi. 33-44. 

In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, the 
Saviour gives us another illustration of the 
same trait in the Jewish character. They were 
like peevish and fretful children, displeased 
with every thing. John the Baptist they did 
not like because he was too austere ; and 
Jesus Christ they censured because they 
thought him too social, too much disposed to 
mingla in society. Hence Jesus said, But 
whereunto shall I liken this generation ? 
It is like unto children sitting in the markets, 
and calling unto their fellows, and saying, 
We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye 
have not lamented. For John came neither 
eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a 
devil. The Son of man came eating and 
drinking, and they say. Behold a man glut- 
tonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publi- 
cans and sinners. But, he adds, though they 



68 THE sinner's friend." 

were displeased, but wisdom is justified of 
her children. Matt. xi. 16-19. 

The publicans were collectors of taxes, 
under the Romans. These taxes were not 
paid willingly by the Jews, and the publi- 
cans were aided by the military in their 
work. So reluctant were the Jews to pay. 
their taxes — taxes imposed by the Romans, — 
and so great were the oppressions and cruel- 
ties enacted in collecting them, that none but 
the baser sort coveted the occupation of a 
publican. For the most part they were 
" from the lowest ranks of society and were 
detested by every body.'' In the Jewish 
vocabulary the term, publican^ was descriptive 
of the most base and abandoned character ; 
and by the terms, publicans and sinners^ are 
represented the vile, the base and the aban- 
doned — the chief of sinners. When they 
spake of Jesus as a friend of publicans and 
sinners, they intended to represent him as 
being too familiar with the vicious and cor- 
rupt, associating with them too freely, and 
giving them his countenance in their vices. 
Hence when there drew near unto him all 



THE sinner's eriend. 59 

the publicans and sinners for to hear him, the 
Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying, 
This man receifeth sinners, and eateth with 
them. Luke xv. 1, 2. And on another oc- 
casion they said, That he was gone to be 
guest with a man that is a sinner. Luke xix. 
7. Their language, therefore, when they 
styled Jesus a friend of publicans and sin- 
ners, is the language of reproach ; and in the 
sense they intended, it is most false and 
calumnious. But what they intended as a re- 
proach, may be so construed as to be the glory 
of our Redeemer. In the sense they intended, 
he was not a friend of publicans and sinners ; 
but in a most interesting and important 
sense, he is the sinner's Friend. Let us 
so contemplate his character. 

We are sinners. Our character, while un- 
regenerate, as to any moral excellence or 
spiritual good, is as odious in the sight of 
God, as any thing which the Jews could in- 
tend to express by the terms, publicans and 
sinners. 

We have sinned against clearer light than 
the publicans and sinners of our Saviour's 



60 THE sinner's friend. 

time ; for God, who at sundry times and in 
divers manners, spake in time past unto the 
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last 
days spoken unto us by his Son. Heb. i. 1, 
2. And not only hath God spoken by his 
Son, but beside this, we live under the dis- 
pensation of the Spirit. We have enjoyed and 
resisted his reproofs ; and therefore we are 
sinners above many. We are sinners, great 
sinners, the chief of sinners ! 

This is the character given us in the 
Bible. Almost every where on the sacred 
pages we read the proofs of human depravity. 
We read them in the descriptions here given 
of human character. We read them in the 
habitaal course of the bad, and in the oc- 
casional falls of the good. We read them in 
the sacrificial rites of the Jewish economy, 
in the Saviour's agony in the garden, and his 
groans upon the cross. We read them in 
the prayers and confessions of the saints, and 
in the promises and threatenings of God. 
The whole Bible testifies to the depravity of 
man. 

The Saviour taught his disciples to pray 



THE sinner's friend. 61 

daily for the forgiveness of sins. Matt. vi. 
9-13 ; Luke xi. 4. He declared that he shed 
his blood for the remission of sins ; and one 
of his apostles asserts that his blood cleanseth 
from all sin. Matt. xxvi. 28 ; 1 John i. 
7. Then we need forgiveness ; then we have 
sins to be remitted ; we have sins from which 
we need to be cleansed. And the Bible de- 
clares that there is no man which doeth good 
constantlv and sinneth not. 2 Chron. vi. 36 ; 
Psa. xiv. 2 ; Prov. xx. 9. But the Scrip- 
ture hath concluded all under sin, that the 
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be 
given to them that believe. Gal. iii. 22. 
As is written, There is none righteous, no, 
not one : there is none that understandeth, 
there is none that seeketh after God. They 
are all gone out of the way, they are to- 
gether become unprofitable ; there is none 
that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat 
is an open sepulchre; with their tongues 
they have used deceit ; the poison of asps is 
under their lips : whose mouth is full of curs- 
ing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to 
shed blood. Destruction and misery are in 
6 



62 THE sinner's priend. 

their ways : and the way of peace have they 
not known. There is no fear of God before 
their eyes. Now we know that what things 
soever the law saith, it saith to them who 
are under the law : that every mouth may 
be stopped, and all the tvorld may become 
guilty before God. Rom. iii. 9-20. The 
imagination of man's heart is evil from his 
youth ; every imagination of the thoughts of 
his heart is only evil continually. Gen. vi. 
5 ; viii. 21 ; Rom. i. 18-32. 

What the Bible thus plainly and fully de- 
clares, is also taught us and confirmed by 
facts. The facts of history are facts written 
in bloodjand could be true of none but fallen 
and depraved beings. What the Bible de- 
clares in Psa. Iviii. 3-5, we see exhibited in 
the life around us ; — The wicked are es- 
tranged from the womb : they go astray as 
soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their 
poison is like the poison of a serpent : they 
are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; 
which will not hearken to the voice of charm- 
ers, charming never so wisely. We speak of 
the innocence of infancy and childhood ; but 



THE ^sinner's fkiend. 63 

at how early a period are unholy passions 
manifested ! How soon we see the workings 
of anger, and pride, and dissimulation ! And 
as our children grow up, how prone are they 
to fall into evil practices and habits ! What 
care must the parent exercise, and what anx- 
iety must he feel, and what effort must he 
make, lest his children grow up in the way 
they should not ! Why this proneness to every 
thing evil, if the heart be right ? Why so 
prone to go astray, if the nature be not cor- 
rupt and inclined to evil ? Ah, that which 
is born of the flesh is flesh ; and the sinner 
must be born again. John iii. 1-8. Yes, 
reader, 2/^^ are a. sinner ; and you must be 
born again ! 

We live in the midst of gospel light, under 
just and equal laws, and education pours her 
concentrated rays upon us ; and yet look at 
the facts which the papers of almost every 
week disclose: — the daring robberies, the 
extensive frauds, the horrid murders ; and in 
view of these can you doubt whether man is 
a sinner ? It would seem that God is permit- 
ting these awful and multiplied exhibitions of 



64 THE sinner's friend. 

human depravity on purpose to convince all 
of the desperate wickedness of the human 
heart, and to show beyond all lingering of 
doubt, that nothing short of the religion of 
Jesus Christ can exert a reforming and con- 
trolling influence over the race of man. Edu- 
cation is not sufEcient; law is not suflicient ; 
civilization and the restraints of society are not 
sufficient. You may erect a college in every 
town, and have a school in every family ; and 
you may place a prison in every neighbour- 
hood, and a gallows at every cross-road ; and 
you may enact laws, and introduce all the 
refinements of civilized life ; and yet the 
wicked will do wickedly until their hearts 
are renewed by the Spirit of God, and they 
are brought under the influence of the re- 
ligion of his Son. And if to the facts which 
are made public, you could take one full view 
of the secret wickedness which is concealed 
from mortal vision, you would stand horror- 
struck, and wonder that the bolts of divine 
wrath are not dashed upon a guilty world ! 
Apart from what is concealed, there is 



THE sinner'sfriend. 65 

enough in the daily disclosures of crime to 
convince any one that man is a sinner. 

What we are thus taught in the Bible and 
by facts, we feel in ourselves to be true. We 
are sensible of our failings. We know, we 
feel, that we are sinners. Not one of my 
readers but is conscious of unworthiness and 
ill-desert. Not one but feels that the law has 
claims which have not been met. A sense of 
guilt, at times at least, is present in every 
heart. Conscience, reader, your own consci- 
ence, is a witness against you. Your heart 
condemns you ; and if our heart condemns 
us, God is greater than our heart, and know- 
eth all things. 1 John iii. 20. 

Now as sinners we have need of a friend. 
When man was created, God was his friend ; 
but by our sins we have made him our enemy. 
He is angry with us every day, because we 
are wicked, because we are sinners. Psa. vii. 
11. It is as true of us as it was of the Jews. 
They rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit : 
therefore he was turned to be their enemy, 
and he fought against them. Isa. Ixiii. 10. We 
are in love with the world ; and it is written, 
6* 



6Q THE sinner's friend. 

Know ye not that the friendship of the world 
is enmitj^ with God ? whosoever, therefore, 
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of 
God. Jas. iv. 4. And it is also written, The 
carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is 
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
can be. Rom. viii. 7. And in the sermon on 
the mount we have this instruction from the 
best teacher, Agree with thine adversary 
quickly, while thou art in the way with him ; 
lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to 
the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the 
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Matt. 
V. 25. We have offended God, and are urged 
to become reconciled to him. They who of- 
fend human rulers, or break human laws, need 
a friend and advocate near the throne, or 
before the tribunals of their country, to 
manage their case and plead their cause. 
We have offended our Creator and Governor, 
and broken his laws. On account of our 
transgressions he is our adversary, and with 
him we should agree quickly; but is there 
any Advocate for us ? Is there a friend to 



THE sinner's friend. 67 

whom we can commit our cause ? We need a 
friend ; is there a friend for us ? 

Yes, there is a Friend and Advocate ; for 
Jesus Christ is the Friend of sinners ! He is 
the sinner's Friend, the sinner's Advocate. He 
is ready to undertake our case and to plead 
our cause. For if any man sin, we have an 
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous. 1 John ii. 1. He is the Mediator 
between God and men! 1 Tim. ii, 5. He 
has shown his friendship to us in numerous 
ways — in ways the most wonderful and as- 
tonishing. 

He gave a wonderful exhibition of his 
friendship in assuming our nature. By 
this act he took upon him the form of a 
servant ; he took part of the flesh and blood ; 
he became like one of us — a brother — hence 
called the Son of man. Phil. ii. 7; Heb. 
ii. 14 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. ii. 11 ; John v. 
26, 27. He relinquished the glories of 
heaven ; he emptied himself, and made him- 
self of no reputation ; " he wrapped the veil 
of humanity about him, but the God was 
within;" God manifest in the flesh. The 



68 THE SIN nek's friend. 

word was made flesh. This was a wonderful 
stoop of love. It demonstrates Jesus to be 
the sinner's Friend. John xvii. 5 ; Phil. ii. 
5-8 ; 1 Tim. iii.l6; John i. 14 ; Matt. xi. 19. 
And while in the flesh, he made a constant 
exhibition of his friendship. His life was 
spent in going about doing good. Acts x. 
88. Benevolence shone in all his actions. 
His miracles were not performed as a mere 
exhibition of power; they all had some bene- 
ficial design. His instructions were not in- 
tended as a mere display of wisdom ; they 
are all adapted to promote the best good of 
men. And it was among the poor and the 
guilty that he laboured, and for them that 
he toiled, insomuch that his enemies called 
him a friend of publicans and sinners. And 
his benevolent life and labours were not free 
from suffering, for he had not where to lay 
his head. Matt. xL 19; viii. 20. He was cal- 
umniated and persecuted ; yet he continued 
to work for the good of men, and to give a 
practical proof of his friendship for sinners — 
his desire for their salvation — for he said, 
The Son of man came not to be ministered 



THE sinner's friend. 69 

unto, but to minister, and to give his life a 
ransom for many. Matt. xx. 28. 

Hence in his death he showed his friend- 
ship for us. He said, Greater love hath no 
man than this, that a man lay down his life 
for his friends. John xv. 13. This love he 
has had for us ; this costly exhibition of his 
friendship has he given. For when we were 
yet without strength, in due time Christ 
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a 
righteous man will one die : yet peradventure 
for a good man some would even dare to 
die. But God commendeth his love toward 
us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ 
died for us. Rom. v. 6-10. And in dying 
for us, he proved himself our Friend. 

And then Christ arose from the dead, 
ascended into heaven, and there he intercedes 
before his Father's throne. For Christ is 
not entered into the holy places made with 
hands, which are the figures of the true ; but 
into heaven itself, now to appear in the 
presence of God for us. Heb. ix. 24. Where- 
fore he is able also to save them to the utter- 
most that come unto God by him, seeing he 



70 THE sinnek's friend. 

ever liveth to make intercession for them. 
Heb. vii. 25. He is the sinner's Advocate in 
heaven. 

And more than this, he shows his friend- 
ship in the offers he makes of himself and his 
salvation to all who hear the gospel. These 
offers include himself and his benefits ; and 
they are made without restriction, or limi- 
tation; they are full and free, and unre- 
stricted. He says, Look unto me, and be ye 
saved, all the ends of the earth : . for I am 
God, and there is none else. Isa. xlv. 22. 
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money ; come 
ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and 
milk without money and without price. Isa. 
Iv. 1. And whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life freely. Rev. xxii. 17. And, 
reader, these offers and invitations are to 
you, just as much as if you were the only 
sinner in the world ! Jesus Christ invites 
YOU to come to him ; and he offers to be your 
Advocate and your Friend. 

There is no reason, then, to doubt the 
friendship of Jesus Christ towards a sinful 



THE S INNEK'S FRIEND. 71 

4 

world. He has given so many unquestionable 
evidences of it, that none can with any reason 
doubt it. He is, beyond all controversy, the 
Friend of sinners. 

But what kind of Friend is he ? A friend 
of publicans and sinners ; not a friend to 
their sins, but to their souls — a friend who 
saves his people, and all who trust in. him, 
from their sins. Matt. i. 21. 

He is a divine Friend. In him dwelleth 
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Col. 
ii. 9. Christ is over all, God blessed for 
ever — the true God, and eternal life. Rom. 
ix. 5 ; 1 John v. 20. Hence he is able to 
sustain and relieve — able to perform every 
needful act of friendship. 

And he is a human Friend as well as 
divine, man as well as God. Hence he is 
acquainted with all our weaknesses and infirmi- 
ties, and he can sympathize with us in our 
fears and our sorrows ; for he knoweth our 
frame ; he remembereth that we are dust. 
Ps. ciii. 13, 14. Forasmuch as the children 
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also him- 
self likewise took part of the same ; that 



72 THE sinner's feiend. 

through death he might destroy him that had 
the power of death, that is, the devil. Heb. 
ii. 14. Seeing then that we have a great 
high priest, that is passed into the heavens, 
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our 
profession. For we have not a high priest 
which cannot be touched with tne feeling of 
our infirmities ; but was in all points tempted 
like as we are, yet without sin. Heb. iv. 14, 
15. Wherefore in all things it behooved him 
to be made like unto his brethren, that he 
might be a merciful and faithful high priest 
in things pertaining to God, to make recon- 
ciliation for the sins of the people. For iu 
that he himself hath suffered being tempted, 
he is able to succour them that are tempted. 
Heb. ii. 17, 18. As man, made like unto 
his brethren, he is able to succour, because 
he can sympathize, feel for us, and feel with 
us. 

And he is an affectionate Friend. He 
wept at the grave of Lazarus ; and then said 
the Jews, Behold how he loved him ! John 
xi. 35, 86. On one occassion he stretched 
forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, 



THE sinner's friend. 73 

Behold my mother and my brethren ! For 
whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, 
and sister, and mother. Matt. xii. 49, 50. 
On the cross we see a moving exhibition of 
the Saviour's affectionate spirit : There stood 
by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his 
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Oleophas, 
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore 
saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, 
whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, 
Woman, behold thy son ! Then saith he to 
the disciple. Behold thy mother. And from 
that hour that disciple took her unto his 
own home. John xix. 25-27. And Jesus 
is the same affectionate Saviour now, the 
same affectionate Friend. He loves them 
that love him. Of him it is written. Having 
loved his own which were in the world, he 
loved them unto the end. John xiii. 1. 
And he said, He that hath my command- 
ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me : and he that loveth me shall be loved 
of my Father, and I will love him, and will 
manifest myself to him. And again, If a 
7 



74 THE sinner's friend. 

man love me, he will keep my words : and 
my Father will love him, and we will come 
unto him, and make our abode with him. 
John xiv. 21-23. 

Jesus is also a tried Friend. His chosen 
disciples were slow to learn ; their imperfec- 
tions tried his patience and his love, and yet 
he loved them even unto the end. John xiii. 
1. Though unworthy he called them friends; 
and he loved them even unto death. Yea, he 
loved them in death, and through death, and 
"beyond death. He laid down his life for 
them ; his love was stronger than death. John 
XV. 12-17. Cant. viii. 6. 

" One there is above all others 

Well deserves the name of Friend ; 
His is love beyond a brother's, 

Costly, free, and knows no end. 
"Which of all our friends to save us. 

Could or would have shed his blood? 
But this Saviour died to have us 

Eeconciled in him to God.'' 

He is a faithful Friend. There is a friend 
that sticketh closer than a brother. Prov» 



THE sinner's friend. 75 

xviii. 24. Such a friend is Jesus Christ. 
Earthly friends sometimes deceive and desert 
us in the time of greatest need; but this 
friend is ever near in trouble, faithful and 
constant. He is truly " a friend in need,'* 
and therefore, '^ a friend indeed." For he 
hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
thee. Heb. xiii. 5. No one trusting in him 
has found him unfaithful. 

And he is an almighty Friend. He has 
all power in heaven and in earth. Matt, xxviii. 
18. All things were made by him; and with- 
out him was not anything made that was 
made. John i. 3. He is before all things, 
and by him all things consist. Col. i. 17. 
He upholds all things by the word of his 
power. Heb. i. 3. Now he who made and 
governs all things, must be Almighty — the 
mighty God. Isa. ix. 6. None, therefore, 
can pluck his friends out of his hands. John 
X. 27-30. They shall never perish. Mighty 
to save, he is able to do for us all the good 
we need, to protect and defend us from all 
the evils that may threaten us, and to sustain 



76 THE sinner's friend. 

us under all the trials with which we may 
meet. Isa. Ixiii. 1. 

Therefore he is just the Friend we need. 
His atonement and intercession can prevail 
for us before his Father's throne. He can 
deliver us from condemnation; he can free 
us from the guilt, the pollution, and the 
power of sin. We have seen that, as sinners, 
we need a friend, one who can reconcile us to 
God, one who can restore us to the favour of 
our offended and injured Sovereign. This 
Jesus Christ can do ; for he is our peace, 
having made peace through the blood of his 
cross. Bph. ii. 14. Col. i. 20. 

But how may we secure his friendship ? 
How may he become our friend ? How may 
we obtain an interest in the Friend of sin- 
ners ? How may we, personally, be enabled 
to rejoice in the friendship of Jesus Christ ? 

In the first place you must feel your need 
of him. They that be whole need not a phy- 
sician, but they that are sick. Matt. ix. 12. 
They who think themselves well will not call 
the physician's aid, though a deadly disease 
may be preying upon them. So if we are 



THE sinner's friend. 77 

not alive to our sinfulness, we shall not be in 
earnest to obtain the friendship of Jesus. But 
we are sinners. This has been proved. Our 
duties to God and to each other have not been 
done. . We are guilty and perishing. This 
we should deeply feel and sincerely confess. 
This is the first step toward friendship with 
Jesus Christ. 

And, then, in the next place, feeling our 
need of him, we are to see in him a suitable- 
ness to our case, an adaptation to our wants 
and necessities. What has been said of our 
sinfulness, shows us the friend we need ; what 
has been said of Jesus Christ as the friend 
of sinners, shows us his suitableness to our 
wants. 

And, in the third place, we are to receive 
him as he is offered to us in the Gospel. He 
is offered to us freely; and thus we are to 
receive him. He is offered to us as our 
Saviour ; as such we are to receive him, in 
all his oflSces, as our prophet, our priest, and 
our king. He is offered to us as our Medi- 
ator ; as such we must receive him, and 
commit our cause to him. He is offered to 
7^ 



78 THE sinner's friend. 

us as our Friend ; as such we must receive 
him, and desire above everything, an interest 
in his friendship. John i. 12-13, 

And then, in the fourth place, we must 
confide in him, trust in him with humble and 
affectionate confidence ; we must believe in 
him, receive and rest upon him. He loves 
to be trusted ; and we must trust him with 
our immortal interests. We must commit our 
souls to him as unto a faithful Creator and 
Saviour, a true and tried Friend. 1 Pet. iv. 
19. Realizing our helplessness and our vile- 
ness, we must cast ourselves upon his arms, 
and be willing — not to be damned, but to be 
saved by him — be willing that he should dis- 
pose of us and of our eternal concerns as may 
seem good in his sight. 

And we must repent of our sins and forsake 
them. Not in our sins can we hope for 
peace with God. Sin must be repented of, 
and it must be forsaken, and to Jesus must 
we look for its remission. His blood cleanseth 
from all sin ; and he will look to such as are 
of a broken heart — poor and of a contrite 
spirit, and that tremble at his word. 1 John 



THE sinner's friend. 79 

i. 7 ; Isa. Ivii. 15 ; Ixi. 1 ; Ixvi. 2. He in- 
vites the labouring and the heavy laden to 
come unto him, and he promises to them rest. 
Matt. xi. 28-30. Thus should we come, and 
say, 

" Here, Lord, I give myself away ; 
^Tis all that I can do/' 

And by prayer we must look for his Spirit 
and grace. We need his aid. We are weak, 
and feeling our weakness, we must look to 
him who is Almighty for strength. We are 
ignorant, and sensible of our blindness and 
folly, we should look to him who is wise for 
that wisdom which cometh from above. Jas. 
iii. 15-18. For whatever we feel that we 
need, we are to ask, that we may receive. 
Matt. vii. 7-11. We need the friendship of . 
Jesus Christ ; let us ask, that we may receive. 
We need peace with God ; let us seek for it 
in prayer. We need pardon ; let us ask God 
to forgive. We need to be born again ; let 
us ask of God who giveth liberally and up- 
braideth not. Jas. i. 5. There is a throne 
of grace ; let us go to it, that we may obtain 



80 THE SINNER]' S FRIEND. 

mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 
Heb. iv. 16. God does not bless us for our 
prayers, but in the way of prayer ; it is an 
appointed means of grace. Of Saul it was 
said, Behold, he prayeth. Acts ix. 11. It 
is at the mercy-seat that we shall find Jesus 
our Friend. It is by penitent, believing 
prayer, that we shall obtain the help of the 
Spirit and an interest in Jesus Christ, the 
Friend of sinners. Not that our prayers 
have any worth — not that they commend us 
to God — but God blesses those who seek his 
blessing ; and to seek by prayer and suppli- 
cation, is to put ourselves in the way of ob- 
taining his favour. We must ask, if we would 
receive ; we must seek, if we would find. 
Reader, do you pray ? If you refuse, can 
you hope that Jesus will be your Friend ? 
And without his friendship, what are you? 

That there is such a Friend as Jesus, the 
Friend of sinners, is a comfort to the afflicted. 
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief. Isa. liii. 3. He knows how to pity 
the afflicted, and he can succour them ; he 
can sustain and comfort them. To him it is 



THE sinner's friend. 81 

their privilege to go in their sorrows, seek 
his friendship, and ask his support. 

And here is encouragement to the anxious 
and enquiring. They feel their sinfulness, 
and realize that God is justly offended with 
them. They feel themselves perishing, and 
they ask with earnestness. What must we do 
to be saved ? We point them to Jesus, the 
sinner's Friend, and say. Behold the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world ! Acts xvi. 29-31 ; John i. 29. And 
we say to them. Go to Jesus ; go just as 
you are ; go now ! Do not delay with the 
vain hope of making yourselves better, for 
that you can never do ! Go at once to the 
Physician, that he may cleanse you from your 
sins, and heal the malady of your souls ! Are 
you sinners ? He is the Friend of sinners. 
Are you great sinners ? He came into the 
world to save such, to save sinners, even the 
chief of sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15. Is he not 
able to save you ? Can you doubt his ability ? 
Is he not willing to save you ? Can you 
doubt his willingness ? But see what he has 
done and suffered that he might save you j 



82 THE sinner's friend. 

and when he has done so much, and when by 
his Spirit he is convincing you of sin, and 
giving you to feel your need of him ; and 
when you look to him, and beseech him to 
have mercy upon you, and forgive and save 
you, do you think he will reject you ? When 
he says he will in no wise cast you out, will 
you disbelieve him ? John vi. 37. beware 
of unbelief ! Keceive the Saviour, accept of 
him, rely upon him, believe in him ; and thus 
secure his favour and his love — his everlast- 
ing friendship. 

Let all now make Jesus Christ their friend 
by giving themselves to him. Let the young 
do this, for they must die, and they should 
remember now their Creator in the days of 
their youth. Eccl. xii. 1. Let the aged do 
this, for they are soon to stand before God 
in judgment. Jesus is the friend of all who 
come to him — of all who trust in him. He 
is the best Friend of his friends; and he is 
the most dreadful Enemy of his enemies ! 
He will say, Come, ye blessed ; and he will 
a.lso say^ Depart, ye cursed ! ! Matt. xxv. 



THE sinner's friend. 83 

And now, reader, why will you die ? Turn 
and live ! Secure the favor of the sinner's 
Friend, and be at peace with God. Destroy 
not yourself. Make one honest effort for the 
salvation of your soul. Strive to enter in at 
the strait gate. Luke xiii. 23-29. Listen 
to the calls of mercy ; yield to the strivings 
of the Spirit ; embrace Jesus Christ by faith, 
and regard the expostulations of Jehovah : — 
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no 
pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that 
the wicked turn from his way and live : turn 
ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why 
will ye die, house of Israel ! Ezek. xxxiii. 
11. Repent, and turn yourselves from all 
your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be 
your ruin. Cast away all your transgressions, 
whereby ye have transgressed ; and make you 
a new heart and a new spirit : for why will 
ye die, house of Israel ? For I have no 
pleasure in the death of him that diuth, saith 
the Lord God : wherefore turn yourselves, 
and live ye. Ezek. xviii. 30-32 : Isa. i. 18 ; 
Iv, 1-4. 



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